Dysfunctional Family
by GeekyChic123
Summary: What, did you think Tony was going to willingly leave his family behind when he took god knows how long to build a time machine at the Avengers Complex?
1. Chapter 1

I am super excited about this story idea, the chapter is super short but just a start for the story I have in mind!

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All the team wanted to talk about when Stark arrived was the fact he'd perfected time travel. The realization that they could fix what had already been done, and the logistics of getting everyone back. But before long Tony was quickly tired of talking about his latest discovery, he shook away his teammates and their relentless questions and found himself in the old lab he'd had built for the complex what felt like an eternity ago. Natasha had quickly gone back to her office to start calling the team back together; Or at least, what members of the team they were still in contact with. Banner was gathering some supplies Stark had requested, Scott was still recovering from his failed attempt at time traveling.

Now it was just Tony and Steve alone together in the lab. They were trying not to think about the other times they'd spent with just the two of them, times that almost always would end up with fitting and arguments.

Never at ease with uncomfortable silences, Tony started to fill the room with a relentless stream of questions. "How long will it take to get the rest of whatever team we have left here? Is my favorite smurf still around? I could use her help building this thing. What about the flying, glowing chick? Oh, ok, if she's two galaxies away I guess that's a pretty good excuse for her not to have to come help out with this... Also, can someone refresh my memory? I haven't been here in a hot minute, just because I paid for, designed and built this place doesn't mean I remember where everything is. Do we have two bedrooms adjacent to one another? Preferably with easy access to the backyard? Little miss likes being outside, don't want her to feel like she's trapped in here, away from the trees and the sky and all that stuff she likes. Plus Pepper has become quite the fan of the outdoors. Always pegged her for a city girl, but now she gets a bit green around the gills if she's away from nature for too long."

Steve furrowed his brows together, trying to understand what he was hearing. "What? Yeah, I mean, we have a couple rooms that are connected... I think the one across from the gym is pretty close to the backyard. But, um, you're bringing Pepper and Morgan here? Are you sure that's the best idea Tony?" At this question Stark ceased throwing his blueprints up on a white board, and turned to face the Captain. "Rogers, I don't know how long I'm going to be here. Or what's going to happen after this, "thing" gets built. I'm going to spend as much time with my family as I can before whatever happens because of this device, happens. And if that's not an option, then this entire deal is off the table."

Tony had a defensive look on his face, he was clearly ready to fight. But Steve couldn't find a flaw to argue in the logic that Stark wanted to spend as much time as he could with the ones he loved before embarking on a dangerous mission they might not be coming back from.

"I can't argue with that Tony. Can't say I wouldn't do the same if I wasn't in your shoes; But honestly are you ready to have your daughter around us? To expose this part of your past to her? We've hardly heard from you since everything happened. We figured you didn't want us to have anything to do with your family."

Tony had paused what he was doing to listen to Steve, now in this moment he almost looked embarrassed. He was scratching at the back of his neck, avoiding eye contact with the Captain. "Yeah... Look, I've made some mistakes. Who hasn't? You can understand that. Maybe I should have buried the hatchet sooner. Tried to be the bigger man. But things went downhill so quickly after the snap. I know we didn't part on the best of terms, it's not exactly easy to go from constantly being at each other's throats to inviting you to my kids birthday party. But what's done is done, not like I can go back and change the choices me and Pepper made..." Stark glanced over towards the blueprints he'd been putting up, he smirked a bit. "Well, at least I can't until this thing gets built."

Tony shook his head slightly, pulling himself out whatever thoughts he was having about the choices he'd made regarding himself and his family after the snap. "But again, can't do anything about it now. So I figure it's about time Morgan spends some quality time with Uncle Stevie, Aunt Romanoff and whoever else is still around from this dysfunctional little family."

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Okay, this chapter was short and is sort of a toe in the water to see if there is any interest in this story? Ideally I want to write a chapter where Morgan interacts with each unsnapped member of the Avengers at least once. So like a Hawkeye chapter, Thor chapter, Nebula chapter, you get the you want to read this or have any interactions you want to read about Morgan having with the Avengers please let me know!


	2. Chapter 2

It was weird how quickly having Morgan running around underfoot became the new normal for everyone in the Avengers Complex. More often than not she'd sit in Tony's lap during team meetings, or Stark would be in the lab working away at some yet to be perfected part of the time machine and Morgan would come running in babbling about a new idea she had for a game she wanted to play later involving a can of whipped cream, one of Tony's Iron Man Masks and a slingshot.

Most of the team wasn't quite sure how to act around the girl at first, children weren't exactly a field of expertise for the majority of them... More often than Tony could keep track of he'd be interrupted by F.R.I.D.A.Y speaking over the intercom. "Mr. Stark, Thor is requesting you come retrieve Morgan from his room, she is currently on her third hour in a row explaining to him the merits of the separate puppies from the show Paw Patrol." "Mr. Stark, I recommend you go to the gym to retrieve Morgan; Nebula was asking what the child's favorite weapon was to use in battle, and when Morgan didn't have a solid answer our blue friend offered to go teach her how to use whatever was readily available for weapons training around the complex. I believe Nebula is about to begin teaching Morgan how to throw a machete to hit a target? You might wish to intervene before Pepper finds out."

Oddly enough, one of the few places Tony started to feel Morgan would be safe in, was Natasha's office. Almost as soon as Stark came back, the Russian had closed herself in her office to start her deep investigation to attempt to find the whereabouts of Barton's location. Tony quickly realized if Morgan was bored and restless, that sending her to Natasha's office for a couple hours not only kept her out of his hair/laboratory for a bit, but resulted in Morgan being returned to him happy, in one piece and inexcusably tired out more often than not.

Tony knew better than to interrogate Natasha and figure out what exactly was happening when Morgan and the Russian were spending time together, if he questioned what Natasha was doing with his daughter, Morgan would probably come back to him at the end of the day hyped up on sugar and armed with her own personal set of Widows Bites just so Nat could get back at Tony for doubting her.

Natasha had met Morgan a handful of times before her arrival at the complex, and after Tony brought his family here Natasha had been surprised by how pleasant it was having a tiny Stark running around. Shortly after Stark arrived Romanoff's time had become consumed by trying to find her old partner. More often than not Natasha could be found searching through stacks of maps, files, old messages sent between her and Clint trying to pinpoint where Barton might be. And more often than not, a day wouldn't go by that didn't involve Morgan barreling into the assassins office with her arms full of art supplies, toys, snacks and whatever else had caught her interest that day.

Natasha would never admit it to Stark, but the girls constant stream of chatter and almost constant questions made her days go by a lot faster. One day Morgan burst into the office shortly after Natasha had hit another dead end in her hunt for Clint. Romanoff had been sure her old partner was in Paris, but Rhodey had just contacted her with news he'd found more bodies that were definitely left behind by Barton in Ahvaz, Iran. She was so tired of this hunt, with it's relentless dead ends and set backs. It shouldn't be this hard to find the man who was (or maybe who had been?) her best friend.

Natasha closed her laptop as Morgan entered, no need to traumatize the girl with the photos of the crime scene Rhodey had sent. The tiny Stark was holding an armful of books today, she dropped them on the ground as soon as she entered and then threw herself into the swivel chair in front of Natasha's desk. "Guess what? Mommy was worried that I was being too loud or annoying in here when you were trying to work, so she took me to the library and let me pick out FIVE books to read so I'd be quiet! Isn't that great?" Natasha chuckled at this, made a mental note to tell Pepper yet again she really didn't mind being distracted by the girl.

"That is pretty neat! What did you get? War and Peace? Crime and Punishment? Grapes of Wrath?" Morgan giggled at this, and scampered back to the books she'd thrown down when she entered. "No! You're silly! I got a book with cool science experiments in it, and a book on how to make some crafts and then a book mommy didn't want me to get but I got it anyway. Oh, and a book about a flower princess that has magic powers, I'm excited about that one."

Natasha quirked an eyebrow at Morgan, "What book did your mom not want you to get? Was it Harry Potter? Because I have to agree with your parents on that, you should wait until you're a bit older to read those. You'll enjoy them more." Morgan rolled her eyes at this, looking even more like Tony's daughter than usual in that moment. "I know, and no I didn't get Harry Potter. I just got a book that looked cool, but mom said it was an over glorified money maker that profited off of people who were just doing their jobs. So I swapped the cover of the book I wanted with a book about puppies, so she wouldn't realize I got it."

As she finished explaining, Morgan placed what looked like a book about a puppy who visited a farm on the desk and pushed it towards Natasha. The red head opened the book, and found a drawing of the original six avengers staring up at her from the front page. For a second it was like the breath had been knocked out of her, and for once Natasha was at a loss for words.

She remembered when this had come out, shortly after the Battle of New York when the world had freaked out that they had a team of real life superheroes protecting them. There had been so much merchandise suddenly being released with their faces plastered on it, Pepper had her hands full trying to deal with all of the companies trying to profit off of the Avengers without their permission. Steve had brought a copy of this book to the tower one day, they'd passed it around and laughed at the drawings of them fighting aliens and the (for the most part inaccurate) backstories the book told about them.

Morgan was turning the pages of the book now, "I don't know why mom didn't want me to get it. Like how cool is this? See, daddy's in it with his suit! And Steve, and look that's you!" The girl had the book open to the page dedicated to Natasha, that was right next to the page dedicated to Clint. After New York they were the two that the public knew the least about, and given their line of work the pair hadn't exactly been anxious to start appearing on morning talk shows or conducting interviews for magazines spilling the secrets of their lives. There was little to nothing in the about me sections on their pages, compared to Stark and Steve who each had several pages dedicated to their history of becoming an Avenger.

Natasha brushed her fingertips over the pages, remembering how excited Clint had been that he was even included in the book. "Look at us Nat! It's like people are finally taking us seriously as Avengers! They'll finally know who we are!" Morgan interrupted Natasha's reminiscing and pointed at the page about Clint. "Who's that? He doesn't live here."

The Black Widow almost laughed, but also didn't know how to explain her partner who had changed so much since this book came out. "He is- was? No, I guess he still is an Avenger. He's... missing right now." Morgan nodded slowly at this, Nat could practically see the wheels turning in her head. "But you're looking for him, right? Is that why you're always working in here? I always hear daddy asking you about your missing persons case." Romanoff nodded, eyes skimming over the pages, smirking slightly at the inaccurate facts the book boasted about Strike Team Delta.

"Yeah, I'm looking for him. The only problem is someone who's an expert at hiding taught him how to not be found." Morgan was standing next to Natasha now, reading the book over her shoulder. "His name is Hawkeye? Does he turn into a bird? Or have like a bird sidekick?" The spy shook her head, "I guess he had a spider sidekick. And no he didn't turn into a bird, not everyone's superhero name is as literal as Scott's or your Dad's. He had really good vision, people said he had the eyes of a Hawk and he just adopted that nickname. His real name is Clint though."

Morgan did a double take, "Wait Daddy always calls you spider! Where you and Hawkeye sidekicks for each other? And you always win hide and seek did YOU teach him how to hide!? Oh my gosh! AND he has a bow and arrow just like Merida does, is that why your necklace is an arrow? Like a friendship necklace? Do all of the Avengers have friendship necklaces!?"

Instinctively Natasha's hand reached up to grab hold of the necklace, her fingers wrapped around the arrow. "No... We don't all have them, and please don't mention that idea to your dad because if you do I know what he's going to get everyone for Christmas. I guess it's like a friendship necklace, but Clint wasn't much of a jewelry fan so he had a keychain." Morgan's eyes were large as she took this all in, "and what's on his key chain?" Natasha smiled at the young girl sitting in front of her, and gently moved a piece of hair out of the little Stark's eyes. "I can't tell you that. Clint and I swore each other to secrecy that we'd never tell anyone about the others necklace; or key chain as the case may be."

Morgan's face fell at this, she was almost as nosy as her father and definitely had his thirst for wanting to know the details of the lives of the people she cared about. But she perked up again soon enough. Ok, well then you have to find him so I can ask him about it! Ok?" Natasha smiled at this, but for a second a flicker of sadness crossed her face. "I'm trying. If I find him I'll make sure to let you know. Here, why don't you sit over there and read for a bit, I have to do some work over here." "Morgan grinned cheekily at her, "Some AVENGER work?" The Russian chuckled at this. "Yes, some Avenger work."

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A couple of days later, Morgan again came running into Natasha's office something small clutched in her hands. She stopped at Natasha's desk and then hid her hands behind her back. "Guess what!" The girl blurted out, practically bouncing with excitement. Before Natasha could even speak Morgan leapt forward and held out what at first glance looked like a handful of beads and string. "I made this for you! It's like your necklace but it's a bracelet, and I have one too! Because Clint isn't here so you can't match with him, even though I know you guys have friendship charms. And then me and mommy made bracelets together so I thought if I made you one that you and I could have friendship bracelets?"

For a second, Natasha was actually speechless as she stared down at the jewelry Morgan was holding. She reached out, and picked up one of the tangles of string and beads. She swallowed the sudden lump in her throat, "Wow, this is beautiful Morgan... Have to say I like the color scheme you went with." Morgan giggled at this, giddy that Natasha liked her gift. "Thanks! I chose red and yellow because it reminds me of your pretty hair, and then some green because of your eyes and some black because I've heard daddy call you Black Widow; But then look? I put a blue bead in the middle BECAUSE THAT IS MY FAVORITE COLOR! And then, see in the middle of my bracelet is a red bead because IT'S YOUR FAVORITE COLOR!"

Natasha slipped the bracelet around her wrist, ran her finger over the beads. Morgan had already moved on, and was now babbling about how she and Pepper were going to make cupcakes together tomorrow if the girl behaved herself today. The spy felt like a hand was clenched around her heart as she continued to stare at the bracelet. Memories were flashing before her eyes of Clint giving her the arrow necklace for a Birthday years ago. Of the avengers teasing her about it for a couple of days. Then memories of Clint's kids giving her various crafts they'd made; Drawings, necklaces, keychains all flashed through her mind. And now Natasha was really trying not to cry.

"Are you ok?" Morgan's question interrupted the Russians thoughts. Natasha shook the tears out of her eyes, "Yeah, I'm fine...What were you saying about cupcake frosting?"

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It was time for the mission that would declare if all of their work was for nothing or for everything. The arrow necklace was secure around her neck, tucked under the uniform the science bros had designed. The bracelet Morgan had given her was secure in Natasha's pocket; She'd worn it to the point that the string was fraying, the beads hung loose around her wrist if she did wear it.

It was just jewelry. Probably foolish to bring it with her; But the chain around her neck? The tangle of beads and strings tucked away in her pocket? It reminded her of what all of this was for. Who they where trying to help and protect, and why they would do whatever it took to end this mission successfully.

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Please please PLEASE review!


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